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Saturday, December 19, 2015

Gold Temples Of India

The temple in Amritsar for the Sikh people is of gold and is famous as Golden Temple. The roof of Nataraja temple in Chidambaram and the Vimanas -tower above the sanctum sanctorum- in the temples of Palani Murugan, Puducherry Manakkula Vinayaka and Tirupathi Venkatachalapathy are of gold. Beyond all these gold-claims of these temple, the Sripuram Lakshmi Narayani temple covering 5000 square feet is full of gold everywhere, all weighing 1500 kilograms at a cost of Rs. 350 crore.

Almost all presiding deities in temples of Tamilnadu are swayambumurthis. That means every particle of the state is divine. Tirukaruhavur Vinayaka and Nandhi, Lord Shiva in almost all temples, Karamadai Ranganathar in Coimbatore district, Mari Amman in places as Tiruverkadu near Chennai, Lord Muruga in Vruddhachalam Kolanchiappar temple are a few to mention. Mother Lakshmi Narayani in this Vellore Golden Temple is also a swayambumurthi. As a temple for Mother Lakshmi Narayani is rare, a swayambu of Mother is also equally rare.

This Mahalakshmi Temple-Sri Lakshmi Narayani Temple is built to have the direct aspect of Lord Venkatachalapathi in Tirupathi. Hence, it was named Tirumalaikodi, in early days. After the completion of the construction of the temple, the name of the place is changed as Sri Puram. It would be doubly beneficial for the devotees to complete their pilgrimage to Tirupathi at Sripuram Sri Lakshmi Narayani-Mahalakshmi temple.

Mahalakshmi is the authority-deity for prosperity. She graces the devotees dressed with precious jewels and a crown of diamond, pearls and other precious gems. She pours boons of 16 kinds of prosperity. There is tank around the temple filled with water for 10 feet width.

This is a temple covering 100 acres, every inch of land reminding the beauty of nature and the grace of Almighty and a spiritual environment. Indeed, it is a different world altogether. The mandap and the artificial fountains opposite welcome the devotee. Besides the two pathways to go in and come out, there are 18 entrances behind the mandap representing the 18 characters of the human mind. The temple is designed according to Sri Chakra star lines. The temple is in round shape. It looks as if a Sri Chakra when viewed from the upper side.

Due to security and maintenance concerns, the devotee has to deposit his/her cell phone, camera and other articles including eatables at the entrance office. Every corner and part of the temple speaks but beauty and serenity. Modern lights along with traditional stone lights make even night a day in the temple. There are more than 3,000 trees around. The wind blows soft. Loose talks are prohibited within the temple till the devotee comes out after worship.

Devotees are advised to maintain silence. The temple by itself built with gold, even the paintings in other parts as decorative arches and madaps are of golden colour making the temple glitter for ever. There is a 27 feet tall, 10 tier traditional lamp opposite to Mother’s shrine made of Panchaloka, an alloy of five metals. This has space for lighting thousand lamps. There are statues of Mothers Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi in the meadows of the temple with artificial hills and falls.